Another good Smackdown, solid first promo exchange between Cody and AJ, and I liked how it flowed straight into the first draft picks. Carmelo Hayes getting drafted to Smackdown is a good move for him and I like how he sauntered out and challenged Cody, he even shut the "Whoop that trick" chants down effortlessly, good start to his main roster career.
I liked how they had stars of yesteryear come out to do the other draft picks, it was fun to see the Dudley's together again and I loved the pop they got when they put their glasses on.
I think the triple threat set-up for the women's world championship was fine but Bayley as a face is a bit bland at the moment, and now she's going to have to avoid getting injured by Nia. I think Naomi has been performing well since she returned and it feels just a matter of time before Stratton wins the title.
Clearly Elektra has been in touch with Tony Khan about how to acquire security camera footage, Carlito's response to being revealed as Dragon Lee's attacker was pure Scooby Doo villain!
A tag match between the Bloodline and Owens/Orton is a good idea, and even though its been a decade since I've been following WWE, I see some things never change, Randal Keith Orton still apparently sits around backstage in full ring attire.
The Cody vs Carmelo main event was a bit awkward and that comes from the modern style of wrestling, doing a lot of narrow margin of error springboard highspots is difficult when the 2 guys have never worked together before. They didn't botch anything but the match didn't flow smoothly. Carmelo did hit the springboard DDT beautifully though and his sell of the disaster kick was some Shawn Michaels style bumping. All in all a good first night on the main roster for Carmelo, it's going to be interesting to see how they present him going forwards as he's smaller than I thought, even Cody was noticeably bigger than him.
Lastly I was pleased to see Kianna James get the call-up, she stood out to me in the 6 women tag match at Stand & Deliver, how she carries herself, good in-ring timing and crisp offence.
LA Knight staying on Smackdown sucks for him. He can't be the top babyface with Cody there, and he'll always be behind the Bloodline as a heel and a heel Randy Orton would also overshadow him. There was more opportunity for him on Raw. Hopefully he gets a US title run, but I don't see Logan Paul losing that for awhile.
So the top face for Raw is wide open. Who will step up? Punk is out injured. Seth just had surgery and will be out fir the foreseeable future. Right now it's Jey Uso. Surely someone will step up
I also think Kaiser goes to Smackdown. Or Tiffany to Raw since they're a couple and they usually keep couples on the same show.
Logan Paul being the US Champion is why Bron had to be moved to Raw as like you say I don't see Paul dropping that belt anytime soon. I'd build towards Bron vs Gable for the Intercontinental Championship.
I think the plan ultimately will be for Punk to be the top face on Raw, but right now it'll be interesting to see what they plan to do with Damien Priest as right now I could see them going either way with him in the Judgement Day split.
I think Stratton will stay on Smackdown as that's where she's more likely to get a title win, as on Raw the Becky/Liv/Rhea storyline is likely to dominate the title picture well into the summer. They really need to add another singles title for the women, I'd go for the TV title and have it that the Champion can defend on Raw and Smackdown.